RIT creates innovation award for inventors

Rochester Institute of Technology is creating a new award to further encourage innovation.

The Disclosure Excellence Award is a $1,000 prize that will be awarded twice a year to an RIT researcher with the best invention.

Ryne Raffaelle, RIT’s vice president of research, said the winner will be chosen by RIT’s Intellectual Property and Management Office from invention disclosures submitted in the prior six months.

Entries will be judged on a variety of criteria, including the description of the invention, the viability of a prototype, the invention’s usefulness and patentability, as well as its likely impact on the market.

“We are looking for inventions that are useful and functional, yet also novel and revolutionary in their markets,” Raffaelle said in a statement. “This award is designed to recognize the most positive aspects of research—combining creative thinking with excellent execution.”

The announcement of the new award was made at the Celebration of Research: Innovation and Entrepreneurship event, held at RIT on Tuesday. The first Disclosure Excellence Award will be given out in early 2014.